Hi guys.

So, I'm building my bench of construction grade lumber, because that was what was available, predimensioned, and affordable at my local home center.

But, it's knotty as can be, and when planing and squaring up the legs and stretchers, I got quite a bit of tear out, including some pretty deep tear out around some of the knots. It seems just about impossible to avoid on this wood.

Now, I'm building a workbench and not fine furniture, so I was thinking I'd just leave it be. But then I realized that this is a consistent problem that I've had working with pine and knotty wood of any type, so much so that I fear using any board with a knot in it for a project. I may want to use a piece with a knot in it in a real project some day, as I have in the past. So I figured I should perhaps use this as a learning opportunity.

Sometimes, with a really sharp and well set plane, and a careful approach, I can avoid tear out. But many times you just can't. But you still need to plane the board to thickness or remove twist. What do you do? And more importantly, when deep tear-out occurs that can't be removed, what do you do?

I've never used wood-filler and was thinking it'd probably look just as bad as the tear out, but I have zero experience with it. That's about the only solution I can think of though. Are there any other options? Ways to prevent it in the situations I described? Any other tips?